News Releases

JEFFERSON CITY – For decades, governors have awarded Missouri’s 183 license offices based on political patronage. Implementing a new competitive system that emphasizes efficient office operations and customer service is a top priority for Gov. Jay Nixon.

“Although some offices in the past have been awarded to local governments or not-for-profit groups, most were awarded through a patronage system to political supporters,” Gov. Nixon said. “Now, each interested person or group competes to operate an office, and they submit detailed plans that show how they will run their office. This new process is a vast improvement over the old system.”

The governor also noted that he recently signed legislation that permanently puts his new competitive bidding process into state law.

“Republicans and Democrats both recognized that a change had to be made,” he said. “Legislators saw the need for reform and followed my lead by passing this much-needed and long-awaited legislation.”

The six offices put up for bid this week are in Hartville, Kahoka, Linn, Louisiana, Vienna and Warsaw. Bidders will have five weeks (or until August 25) to respond to bid proposals overseen by the Office of Administration (OA). Teams from the Missouri Department of Revenue will evaluate the bids.

Alana M. Barragán-Scott, acting director of the Department of Revenue, noted the benefits of the new competitive process.

“New bidders will bring fresh ideas to the table and current agents will now have an incentive to review their operations and make improvements,” she said. “The department asks bidders to submit information about their past experience, plans for hours of operation, the office location, and other office operations. Office customers will be the ultimate beneficiaries of this new and more rigorous competition.”

Common transactions that take place at local license offices include renewing or applying for a driver license, renewing or applying for registration on motor vehicles, boats and outboard motors, and applying for titles and paying sales taxes on these units.

Copies of the Request for Proposals (RFPs) that bidders will use to develop their bids can be viewed at https://www.moolb.mo.gov/. To review an RFP, select “Guest” on the home page, click on “Open Bids By Agency,” then scroll through the list of bids until the appropriate bid is located. (Bid numbers for this week’s offices are located below.) Additional information regarding the bidding process can be obtained at http://oa.mo.gov/purch/vendorinfo/DORoffices.pdf or by calling OA at (573) 751-2387.